FAITH PART 4

The Impala drove slowly into the dark parking lot of the church and came to a halt. Dean shut off the headlights and looked out the window. The place wasn't as heavily crowded as it was during the day, but there was a cop car parked out in front of the tent. So there was security walking about.

"Hey," Alice spoke up from the back seat. She shuffled up front and pointed out another car. "Crap. That's Layla's car. She's already here."

Dean frowned and spoke numbly. "Yeah."

"Dean…" Sam began, already knowing what his brother was thinking.

Dean sighed and slumped back in his seat. His heart was heavy, and he felt reluctant to leave the car. "You know if Roy doesn't heal Layla tonight…she's gonna die in a couple months."

"What's happening to her is horrible. But what are you gunna do? Let somebody else die to save her?"

Alice reached over and gave Dean a gentle tap on the shoulder. "We're not here to play God, Dean. Humans weren't ever meant to have that job. I don't like it any more than you do, but-"

"Alice, I know," Dean cut in and looked back at her. "I know…" he said solemnly.

Alice's hard eyes softened a bit. She ran her fingers through his hair and tugged on it a little. "Let's go then." She grabbed a small brown satchel lying beside her and opened the car door.

They approached the tent quietly and peeked in through the covers. They saw Roy inside, speaking to a small group of faithful followers. Along with Layla and her mother.

"Gather round, please everyone, gather round. Come in closer, come on up," Roy said, welcoming everyone.

So she wouldn't be seen, Alice crouched down low to get a better view. She scanned the room and noticed that Sue Ann wasn't anywhere inside. "I don't see Sue Ann."

"Where is she?" Dean asked.

Sam turned his head and looked back towards the house, already having a hunch. "House."

They backed away slowly from the tent and started to jog to the house. They were halfway there when Alice suddenly skidded to a halt and yanked the back of their jackets. She swiftly pulled them behind a car just as the two cops from during the day walked around the corner.

It was clear to them that they weren't going to get past those guys without being seen. And if Alice hadn't pulled them back at the last minute, they would've been caught by now.

"Well, that's just great," Alice said and looked at Dean. "They're waiting for you."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Sam, go find Sue Ann, we'll catch up."

"What are you gonna...?" Sam gave them an odd look when they suddenly got up and walked out into the open.

"Hey!" Dean called out and immediately got the cops' attention. They looked up and saw Dean and Alice standing a couple feet away, arms up in a taunting manner. "You ready to put the fear of God into us?"

The cops immediately dropped their coffees and ran after them as Alice and Dean took off. As soon as they were gone, Sam rushed out from behind the car and hurried to the house. He ran around the side and spotted light emerging from the cracks of the outside basement doors. He grabbed the handles and quietly slipped inside.

The room was dimly lit, but as he navigated through the small space, he finally came across the altar. It was lit with old candlelights and covered with dead animals, blood, and horns. However, it was a picture in the middle that really chilled him. It was a photograph of an ill-looking Alice from the first time they went to the tent. Her face was crossed out with what he could only think to be blood.

As Sam approached the altar, Sue Ann's voice spoke from behind. "I gave your friend life, and I can take it away."

Sam turned around and backed up until he was right beside the altar. He didn't wait a second longer and grabbed the table, tipping all the contents onto the floor. He spilled the blood, smashed the horns, and tore the picture of Alice to shreds. He looked back to Sue Ann but found that she had already fled outside and locked him in.

"No!" Sam shouted and ran up the steps. He pushed against the door, but it didn't even budge.

Sue Ann spoke up from the other side, almost like she was pleading with him. "Sam, can't you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the evil," she said as Sam slammed his hands against the door. "And I know…I know deep in my heart that Alice is a wicked being. Her dark heart can't be saved, but I can use her life to save Layla's. It is God's will."

"If you try anything…!" Sam shouted furiously as overwhelming panic swept through him.

"Goodbye, Sam." Sue Ann then got up and hurried over to the tent.

Sam looked around frantically and spotted a small window near the back of the basement. He pulled a block of wood from off the wall and used it to smash the glass.

Keeping their heads down low, Alice and Dean watched as the cops rushed past the van they were hiding behind. They flashed their lights all over the parking lot but still couldn't find them anywhere.

"You see them?" one of the cops asked.

"Nah."

Alice sat up and peeked her head out slowly and watched as the cops walked off to search somewhere else. Dean stood up too and looked through the passenger side window, but as he peered through the glass, a large dog suddenly jumped up and barked wildly at him. Dean flinched as Alice instinctively yanked him away.

"Jesus…" she muttered before backing away from the window, afraid that it was gonna break. "Crazy-ass dog. Come on."

They hurried back to the tent when the lights above them suddenly started to go out. The air became stagnant, and cold energy shot right through Alice's bones. She stopped abruptly in the middle of the road and moved her head all over the place until her glowing blue eyes landed on a creature hidden in the dark. The reaper stood across the parking lot a couple feet away, staring right into her soul with his hollow eyes like black pools.

Alice's initial fear instantly shrunk away to nothing as it turned into delight. Her lips stretched into a smirk as she snickered.

Dean gave her an odd look. "What's so funny?"

Alice slid her bag off her shoulder and dropped it on the ground. "He's here. Looks like Sue Ann hated me more than she hated you."

Dean immediately became alarmed and swiftly moved up closer to Alice's side. He looked around for the reaper but didn't see anything. Yet, he still knew it was there. The air was cold, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Dean looked back to Alice but quickly realized she wasn't worried, much less scared. She was calm, if anything, and probably a little giddy too. Like she was enjoying this.

Dean watched her reach into her bag and pull out a glass bottle with a rag stuffed half inside. It looked like a Molotov cocktail, but the liquid inside was dark and slimy-looking. She gripped it tightly in her hand and walked past him.

"The hell is that?" he asked.

"Just shut up and watch," she insisted.

Alice watched as the reaper began to march towards her. A shadow at his back and death in the palm of his outstretched hand. The moment he was close enough, Alice whipped out a lighter and lit the end of the rag. Reeling back, she threw the bottle as hard as possible and slammed it against the body of death. The glass shattered, and crimson flames spewed out from inside. The fire morphed before their very eyes and bound the reaper's body in red chains. He struggled against the bindings, but they didn't break.

"So…" Alice spoke steadily and looked back to Dean, who stared wide-eyed at the reaper. "Can you see him now?"

Sue Ann stood outside the tent, clenching hold of her cross as she recited Latin to herself. She peeked inside as Roy slowly placed his hand against the side of Layla's head. After a couple seconds of silence and nothing, Roy pulled his hand away and became confused.

"I don't understand," he said, shaken.

Layla looked perplexed as she turned back at her mother. "I don't...feel any different...? Reverend?"

"Sue Ann," Roy called out.

Sue Ann's eyes grew wide once she realized what was happening. She clenched the cross tighter than before, but it was no use. No amount of praying or chanting in Latin was getting the reaper to act.

"No…! No!" she cried out and rushed away.

Dean stared in awe and shock as he stood before the master of death himself, a full-fledged reaper bound by flaming chains. He just didn't know why he could suddenly see it now. When only moments ago, he couldn't.

"Hold on… Why can I see him now?" He looked back to Alice and saw her crouched on the floor, digging through her small bag. "What did you do?"

"I bound him, kinda similar to what Sue Ann did," Alice answered so casually that it was jarring to hear. "But instead of controlling him…I'm just tying him down to give Sam more time," she said with a dark, morbid snicker.

"Bound him?" Dean played the words in his head until it finally dawned on him. "You used the same dark stuff. That's why you went back to the cabin. You were grabbing the things you needed to make the spell."

Alice nodded. "My family likes to collect odds and ends from around the world…so it wasn't hard finding everything I needed." She stopped her search and looked back at him. "But let this be a lesson, Dean. Don't be afraid to dig into the dark stuff if you're out of your league. Hunters will always run into things bigger than what they can handle. I made a call…" she said, pulling out a small slip of paper with obscure writing on it. At a closer inspection, it looked like it was written with blood. "I just had to be scary enough for Sue Ann to deem me as evil… and looks like it worked."

For what felt like the millionth time, Dean was at a loss for what to say to her. He was impressed and astonished at how easily she pulled this 'back-up' plan together. Yet, he also felt slightly angry about being left in the dark again. "You made a call? Why didn't you bother to tell me or Sam?"

Alice's smirk dropped. "Cause I knew you wouldn't want me to do it," she said and rolled her eyes.

"Just because I don't want you throwing yourself into danger!" Dean shouted back.

Alice scowled and marched right up into his face. All the while pointing wildly at the bound reaper. "There wasn't any danger! I knew what I was doing. I had everything under control."

As Dean and Alice continued to bicker back and forth, Sue Ann came rushing around the side of the tent and stopped before them. She gasped loudly when she saw the reaper's state, bound and unmoving. It was no wonder Roy's healing wasn't working anymore. This was all Alice's doing.

"No!" Sue Ann shouted as her feverish eyes fell upon Alice. "You wicked woman!" she hissed out, and before she could have the chance to do anything, Sam ran up from behind her and yanked off her necklace. He slammed it down and the glass inside shattered upon impact. Sue Ann cried in horror as she collapsed to the ground. "My God, what have you done!"

Alice spoke coldly as she held up the piece of bloodied paper. "You were outplayed."

Alice took out her lighter and held the small flame against the paper. As it began to burn up and crumble away, the bindings on the reaper started to weaken before dissolving entirely. The creature looked down at himself before slowly turning his head to Sue Ann, smiling with every ounce of malice he had accumulated since his imprisonment. Sue Ann tried to back away, but as she turned to run, the reaper appeared right behind her and placed a hand against her face. Her eyes glazed over, and the color and life were sucked away. She collapsed to the ground and convulsed a few times before falling still. Dead.

Alice crossed her arms and watched the reaper stand up slowly, wearing a satisfied look on his pale, sunken-in face. Sam and Dean became nervous though when the creature turned his attention to Alice. Dean tried to step between them, but Alice stopped him by pulling on his arm.

"Relax. If anything…I did a favor for him," she said confidently and stepped up to the reaper. Her cold blue eyes stared right into his hollow sockets, and without saying a word...the reaper simply turned around and walked away, disappearing for the last time. "Gone without a sound…as Death departs," she said, reciting a quote from her own book of dark deeds.

Dean didn't dare move for a couple seconds, but once he realized it was over, he finally let out a breath he had been holding in the whole time. He dropped his hands on his knees and hunched over. For now at least, it didn't look like there would be any future retribution for Alice's dark deeds, but that didn't save him from the decades he felt like he lost with that stand-off. "Next time…would it kill you to tell us what your plan is!"

"Yeah, yeah," Alice said while walking over to him and patting his back. "I'll keep that in mind next time we're up against a reaper." She looked back to Sam and gave him a thumbs up. "We're good?"

"Yeah. We're good," Sam said, laughing a little at the ridiculous scene he had just witnessed. "Hell of a week."

"Shut up, Sam," Dean groaned out while clenching his chest. "Ugh…my heart hurts."

Even after everything had been solved and the reaper set free, Dean couldn't deny the hollow pit that had formed in his stomach overnight. He sat slumped on the bed and dozed off as Alice paced back and forth across the room, gathering her things and packing them away in her bag. It looked like Dean was focused on her, but it was obvious his mind wasn't quite there.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

Dean lowered his head and shrugged his shoulder, snapping out of his trance. "Nothing," he said absently.

Sam sucked in a deep breath and asked more gently. "What is it?"

Dean lifted his head and thought for a second. "We did the right thing here, didn't we?" he asked, wearing a lost expression on his face.

"Of course we did," Sam assured him.

"It doesn't feel like it," Dean said numbly.

Alice rolled up one of her jackets and stuffed it into her bag. "Sometimes making the right decision isn't the easiest thing to do. Especially with cases like this." She walked over to the bed and sat down beside Dean. "We could've let things go Sue Ann's way the first time she tried to heal Layla…but someone else would have just taken her place. I don't like it, but…it was the only way," she said softly.

Dean scoffed a little. "Ain't that a bitch," he said weakly and hung his head. Not long after, he felt Alice start to play with his hair again and tug on the ends.

He didn't know when she began doing this, but it was starting to become a habit. Dean didn't see any problem with it though. It was a small but sweet gesture, and he honestly loved it. He adored the feeling of her rough hands and seeing the rare moments of kindness in her usually cold, blue eyes. It showed him that she was beginning to open up. Little by little.

A soft knock came from the door, and everyone looked up. Alice walked over to answer it and saw Layla standing on the other side.

"Layla?" Alice said with a perplexed look.

The boys stood up as Layla meekly walked into the room. "Hey, Alice," she said.

"How did you know we were here?" Dean asked.

Layla smiled awkwardly. "Sam called. He said...Alice wanted to say goodbye?"

Alice raised a brow. "Sam did?" Her eyes slowly narrowed as she cranked her head to Sam.

Sam shrunk away sheepishly and gestured to the door. "I'm gonna...grab a soda," he choked out awkwardly and made a swift getaway through the door, not letting Alice have the chance to speak.

"Yeah…why don't you do that," Alice said dryly after Sam left. She sighed deeply and ran her hands through her short hair. "Dean, Layla and I are gonna step outside for a bit. I'll be back soon."

Dean nodded and sat back down on the bed. "Alright. It's good to see you again, Layla."

"You too, Dean." Layla gave him a small wave and followed Alice outside.

They strolled down the path of the outside corridor until they were far enough away to talk without interruption. Alice already figured Layla had a lot to say, so she decided to stay quiet and listen.

"You know...I went back to see Roy," Layla began.

Alice let out a breath and leaned against the wall. "And let me guess…nothing happened."

Layla hung her head with a shallow nod. "Yeah. He laid his hand on my forehead, but nothing happened. You were right."

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter who's right or not," Alice spoke gently. "I'm sorry it didn't work."

"And Sue Ann. She's dead you know? Stroke."

Alice bit down on her lips. "Yeah. Hate to hear it. Roy's a good man. He doesn't deserve what's happened," she said with a huff and stuffed her hands deep into her pocket, trying to hide how much she was clenching them. "I hate how things turned out. I get a second chance, but you..." She didn't allow herself to finish that sentence before closing her eyes tightly.

She agreed with Dean that it was unfair, but she couldn't deny that it had to be done. It would've gone against everything she believed in if she let Sue Ann get away with another death.

Layla laughed a bit when she saw the bitter sorrow sweep across Alice's eyes. "You wanna hear something weird?" she asked and waited for Alice to lift her head. "I'm ok. Really. I guess if you're gonna have faith...you can't just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don't."

Alice tightened her fists even more and felt her throat start to pinch. She smiled wearily at Layla and admired her braveness. Yet, Alice couldn't imagine she could ever do the same. There were too many things on her shoulders, too many negative emotions, and unfinished business. More than likely, she would go out in a rage if death suddenly came to her. A fierce fire reduced to just the dimness of a candle glow. Snuffed out quietly without anyone the wiser.

"And…what about you?" Layla asked.

Alice shrugged her heavy shoulders. "Me? I'm ok. For the time being at least. I got people to look after me…and I still have things to do. I can't leave this world just yet. No matter how much I want to follow after my brother."

Layla's heart sped up with joy as she smiled hopefully at Alice. She was beyond happy to hear her say this, which put her mind at ease. She knew Alice was hurting and grieving, but this meant she was beginning her healing process. It was going to be a long and grueling journey for her, but she knew Alice was more than strong enough to endure it.

Alice chuckled and pushed herself off the wall. "So I guess this is gonna be my fourth time."

Layla looked up and blinked. "Fourth time for what?"

"Praying, I mean. For you."

Layla's eyes widen as she let out a shuddering breath. She bit down on her quivering lips, but as she lowered her head, she saw Alice's hand stretch out before her, silently asking for a shake. Layla didn't do that though. Instead, she opened her arms wide and brought the woman down to her level for a tight hug. Alice made a sharp, disgruntled sound as she awkwardly patted her back.

"Thank you, Alice," Layla said with a hoarse voice.

"Goodbye, Layla." Alice responded back while pulling away. She stepped back against the wall and watched Layla pull herself together and walk off. "And good luck," she whispered as the kindest woman she had ever met... disappeared out of sight.

Alice's smile dropped once she was alone. She pushed herself off the wall and walked back to her room. Dean was waiting eagerly inside and immediately stood up when she got back.

"How's she doing?" he asked.

Alice closed the door softly and leaned against it. "She's…resigned herself. Already accepted her fate and seemed at peace with it."

Dean looked grim. "I hate that it had to be this way, but…no choice."

"Yeah…no choice." She dragged herself over to the desk and sat down. Alice stayed quiet, but it was apparent that she wanted to say something. "You know…I can't help but think that if you had left me to my fate…would it have been easier?" she asked out of the blue.

Dean looked alarmed to hear her say that. "Easier for who? You? Because that's a load of crap. It's not even taking the easy way out. It's quitting," he nearly snapped with frustration. Even his face was starting to turn red.

"Dean…" Alice began.

"Are you really gonna start this again? After everything we've been through." He marched over to the desk and took a seat across from her. Alice still wasn't looking at him, but he continued anyway. "I thought we were past this already. I'm not hearing it anymore, Alice. I'm not. You're not alone in this, and you wanna know why?"

Alice took her time to answer. She had avoided eye contact with him the whole time and only looked up once when she spoke. "Why?"

"Because we're your family now." He declared confidently, finally getting her full undivided attention. "You hear me? Sam and I are gonna look after you…just how you been looking out for us."

Alice slowly sat up straight and blinked wildly. She lowered her head to hide her widening smile as tears threatened to cloud her eyes. She took a deep breath and suddenly stood up, gesturing towards herself.

"Come here," she said.

"What?"

"Just…come here," Alice insisted with open arms.

Dean quickly realized what she wanted and wasted no time getting to his feet and crushing her in a hug. His smile melted with ease as he buried his head into her shoulder, taking in the scent of her hair. And what made it even better was that Alice didn't hesitate to hug him back as tight.

"Thank you, Dean," Alice whispered while moving her hand up his back and through his hair. "I know I've been a stubborn asshole…but thanks for sticking by me this whole time."

"Hate to break it to you, but you're stuck with us for the long run."

Alice laughed a little as her heart felt like it was being squeezed. She took a shallow breath and listened to his heart beating against her body. It was going quite fast, but the sound was still soothing. She loved the sound of his heart, the deepness of his voice, and his goofy nature. She loved…everything.

"Then…you wanna give it a shot? St. Louis," Alice spoke up without a second thought. No doubt. No hesitation.

Dean paused and slowly pulled away from Alice to look at her. There was no shame in her eyes, and she had nothing but certainty in them.

As much as he was thrilled to hear this, he couldn't help but wonder...why? Why would she change her mind?

"I thought you said you weren't interested in a relationship between hunters," he asked.

Alice began to turn a little sheepish despite the confidence she had only moments ago. "I did, but if it's you and I for the long run, then…I guess we can give it a try. Take it slow, maybe. I don't know," she said, casting her eyes away.

"And you want this…?" Dean asked slowly, treading lightly on the questions.

"If I didn't then I wouldn't have said it. Let's be serious…we had already taken it to the first step. Let's just…actually make it real."

Dean's mind was in scrambles, and like an idiot, he didn't say a single word to her for a whole minute. His mouth hung open, and his eyes darted all over the place to try and gather his thoughts, but before he knew it. He started to smile wider and wider until he just looked goofy. He didn't even answer her before pulling her close for another tight embrace.

Alice laughed, already guessing this was his answer. "It's not going to be easy for you, Dean. I know I'm a pain in the ass," she teased.

"More fun for me. I like the challenge." Dean pulled away for only a second before leaning back in and kissing her passionately on the lips.